A Light among Shadows
by K'tanya
Summary: There's a new girl at Hogwarts, and she quickly captures Harry's intrest. But she has a secret, a secret which could destroy them all... RR!
1. Default Chapter

Harry wandered through the Hogwarts Express, scarcely noticing Ron and Hermione's attempts to talk to him.  
  
Mrs Weasley and a few other members of the Order had come to see them off, but Harry couldn't help remembering the big black dog that had raced after the train last year. Gone, disappearing over the horizon of his life as surely as he'd disappeared when the train steamed out of the station.  
  
Ron and Hermione had stopped trying to talk to him now, instead pushing open a comportment door and pulling the trunks inside.  
  
"Hey Harry! This one's empty, look!" Ron called, shoving Pig's empty cage into the rack.  
  
"What was that?" a frosty voice inquired, as the girl who had been sitting unobserved in the corner raised her head, thick sable curls falling away from her face. Baleful golden eyes glared at the trio, hesitated for a split second on Harry's scar, then dropped back down to her book. "Whatever. It's not that important anyway." She drew her legs up under her and withdrew into a cocoon of silence.  
  
"Are you new?" Hermione inquired, noting the girl's unadorned robes and lack of house badge. "Hogwarts doesn't get many new students. People tend to stay at the same wizarding school, I read about it in Wizarding Schools of Europe."  
  
The mystery girl let out an annoyed sigh. "My name is Sabina Redgrove. I transferred from Durmstrang because my father didn't want me attending that school anymore. I will be in sixth year. Are you satisfied?" She ducked her head again, obviously not wanting to speak with them anymore.  
  
"What, because of Karkaroff?" Ron asked.  
  
Sabina hesitated and said slowly, "Partly..." Catching herself, she ducked her head back down to her book and let those soft ebony coloured curls fall over her face again.  
  
Through the trio tried to speak to Sabina often as the train steamed onwards, they only received monosyllabic answers or empty silence. But long after Hermione and Ron tired of Sabina, and sat discussing Arithmancy, Harry watched those sooty curls hang over the pale face and was drawn to this strange, silent girl.  
  
He was still musing on her as he sat at the Gryffindor table, chewing listlessly at a forkful of beef, and watching the Sorting. "Ravington, Daisy!"  
  
"Ravenclaw!"  
  
"Redgrove, Sabina!"  
  
Harry's head snapped up as Sabina uncoiled from among the first years, rising to her full height and stalking to the stool, her robes swaying around her pale knees. She slumped down on it and pulled the hat over her head. To his surprise, she cast a glance at him under shadowy eyelashes as the hat dropped over her head.  
  
The hat mused for a long time. Seconds slipped away, and he saw Sabina's elegant long fingers knotting in her lap. "Gryffindor!" the hat cried finally, and McGonagall lifted it off her head. Harry blinked.  
  
Sabina's enigmatic golden eyes had widened, candlelight dancing in their depths, and her pearly teeth bit into her lower lip. Slowly, oh-so-slowly, she rose and walked to the Gryffindor tale, as they cheered. She slid into a seat, hands still trembling, and stared at the coffeepot. Then, so quickly Harry thought he might of imagined it, her head flicked up and she shot him a wicked, mischievous smile. 


	2. Chapter Two

_Alaina _- Hey, thanks. Here's the next chappie then.  
  
_AshesonFire _- No, sable is black too. I checked a dictionary.  
  
Close to three hours later, Harry was standing just out of sight up the stairs to the boys; dormitory, fiddling nervously with his shirt-hem. The party for the new Gryffindors had ended about half an hour earlier, and all the other boys were already in bed – and asleep, if Seamus's snoring was anything to go by – yet Harry was still standing on the stairs and trying desperately to think of something to say.  
  
The reason was sitting right there on the sofa, polishing off the Chocoballs and reading a magazine, black hair flopping over her face. How long could one person sit there? Did she ever sleep? Maybe she was some magical creature that lived on silence and needed no rest. That would explain a lot, actually.  
  
Harry was just steeling himself to walk up and start a conversation when a raspy, hissing voice broke the silence. It took him a few seconds to realise whoever – or whatever - it was wasn't speaking in English.  
  
"Do you intend to sit there all night? I am getting bored. And hungry." The voice was icy cool, clipped and precise.  
  
"I'm not going up there until I know everyone else is asleep. And I may just Stupefy them for good measure," Sabina answered, turning another page of her book. There was a quiet, reflective pause.  
  
"You are one of the most childish girls I have ever come across."  
  
Sabina stiffened and jerked her head up, apparently staring at her left sleeve in shock and horror. "You're calling me childish?"  
  
"Would you prefer immature? Puerile? Infantile? Babyish? I'm quite sure I can come up with half a dozen other synonyms."  
  
Sabina leapt up and pulled off her robe, glaring at her left arm. Or, more specifically, the creature twisted around it. "Stop calling me childish! I'm sixteen!"  
  
"I was referring to mental age there," the snake commented, sliding off Sabina's arm and onto the sofa. "And, by the way, I will remain in the dormitory tomorrow. I know I am cold-blooded and expected to enjoy warmth, but it was terribly hot and stuffy in your sleeve. England is not Bulgaria. You're not supposed to wear five layers of clothing."  
  
Sabina was silent for a few minutes. When next she spoke, her temper seemed under control. "You can't speak to me like that."  
  
"Oh, how terrible. I do apologize." It was truly amazing how much sarcasm the snake's voice could convey. Sabina fumed at it for a few seconds, before draping the snake around her shoulders and stalking up to the dormitories.  
  
Harry flattened himself against the wall to avoid being seen, and didn't move until the sharp clicking sound of Sabina's shoes died away. As he slid into the dormitory, closing the door carefully to avoid waking Ron, his thoughts buzzed with this new development. So, Sabina was a Parselmouth? That explained why her father didn't want her at Durmstrang any more. She'd probably been bullied about it. He remembered his own second year, when he'd been suspected of Dark wizardry and hissed at in the corridor, and scowled. Yeah, that would be it. Deciding to talk to her in the morning, he scrambled into bed and was asleep in ten minutes flat. 


	3. Chapter 3

Thankies to all my lovely reviewers! (throws cookies and miscellaneous plushies)  
  
The next morning Harry was awoken by what sounded like Neville falling down the stairs. On closer inspection, it turned out to be Dean. Apparently no- one was that happy with the start of the new term, Harry observed when Parvati Patil dashed into breakfast with a towel still wrapped around her head.  
  
Harry slid in next to Sabina, who was resolutely scarfing down a bowl of cornflakes and pointedly looking in the opposite direction. Once he'd decided that the din in the Great Hall was loud enough, he inquired, "So, you're a Parselmouth?"  
  
Sabina promptly choked on her toast. Proper choking, not that fake stuff with the dainty ladylike coughs. Harry smacked her on the back once her lustrous golden eyes started bugging out.  
  
"Uurgh...yow...thanks...now how the hell did you know that?" Sabina twisted round and shot Harry a glare that could melt icebergs. Harry squirmed.  
  
"Uh, see, I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go downstairs and tidy up a bit, and I overheard you talking to your snake. See, I'm a Parselmouth too." he added, regretting it almost as he said it.  
  
"I know, I read some back copies of the Daily Prophet before I came here." Sabina said flatly, but she didn't look quite as angry as she had a second ago. "I would prefer it if you didn't tell the whole damn school, however."  
  
"Oh, I won't." Harry assured her. "Just wondered, is it a family thing?"  
  
"Nope. Neither of my parents can do it. They always thought I was kind of a freak, hanging out with snakes and lizards all the time. I think one of my great-uncles could, though." Sabina answered, taking a bite out of a sausage. Her third or fourth, if Harry remembered correctly. "I have to go to Charms now." She stood up and grabbed her bag, gaze still fixed on the ceiling.  
  
"I have Charms too. See you there.' Harry said quickly, waiting until she had left the Great Hall before getting up and dashing after her. Partly because he planned to sit near her, and partly because the classroom was up in on of the towers and he wasn't sure how to get there.  
  
He skidded into the classroom just behind Sabina, tried to look as if he hadn't just run from the Great Hall to the top of the east tower, and slumped into a seat just a few feet away from her. At he front of the classroom, Malfoy turned in his chair to smirk at him. Bloody Malf – oh, no. Malfoy, in his class, for another two years. Greasy git.  
  
Fortunately, Harry wasn't to be completely friendless – Ron and Hermione came in together, Hermione apparently trying to explain the Teletubbies to him, and a few minutes both Parvati and Padma Patil entered. Okay, so they both disliked him and Ron, but at least they were familiar faces.  
  
Hermione seated herself next to him, her bushy hair obscuring Sabina's face for a second, and thumped her books down on the desk. "Look, Ron, they aren't supposed to have a point, they're in a kids' programme! They just dance around and sing about custard!"  
  
"Why would kids want to watch that? I know if I was a Muggle kid they'd give me bloody nightmares..."  
  
"Ron, that isn't the point!"  
  
"You just said there wasn't a point at all!"  
  
Harry leant back in his chair and relaxed. Maybe this new year wouldn't be so different after all. 


End file.
